The 800 lb. Gorilla of the ETF World

Bloomberg reports that the Vanguard Group, Inc. has grown its market share from 15 to 20 percent since 2010. Consequently, its two biggest rivals, BlackRock’s iShares and State Street’s SPDRs have lost ground incrementally since then. Specifically, Vanguard has added $51 billion in assets to its coffers this year alone. That’s around 32 cents of every dollar invested in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this year — up from 28 cents last year. And there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight due to the unique structure of Vanguard’s products and their low cost. The average expense ratio of a Vanguard ETF is 0.14 percent, compared to 0.39 percent for iShares and .35 percent for SPDRs. Clearly, Vanguard is the way to go for ETF buyers today.